Furnace or stove construction.



G. c. KIDDER.

FURNACE 0R STO VE CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 21. 1916- 1,226,082. Patented May 15, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- WW awe/whoa:

' which'time they are thoroughly mixed with UN ED STATES PATENT onmcn.

GEORGE c. KIDIJER, or SALT LAKE crry, UTAH.

FURNACE OR STOVE CONSTRUCTION.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonen C. KIDDER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Salt of low grade bituminous coal may be intro-' duced into the burning retorts disposed adjacent the combustion chamber, and communicating therewith, whereby the smoke and gases generated from the bituminous coal are consumed in the combustion chamber by commingling with the heated air led thereto. The gases and smoke generated from the burning coal wlthin the retorts pass through somewhat restricted passages on f Fig. 1;

their way tothe combustion chamber at superheated air immediately upon their .entrance to the combustion chamber, sothat this air is mixed with the smoke and gases before it comes in contact with the boiler fines, and while it is in a very heated condition. Thisinsures positive combustion of these products and greatly increases'the efficiency of the furnace.

The preferred embodiment of the invention consists of relatively large coal retorts surrounded by water jackets and disposed on each side of a combustion chamber, in which the large charges of bituminous or other low grade coal are placed, and in order to insure the proper burning of the coal within the retorts a plurality of air drafts are led thereto, which manifestly permits a very hot fire to be had within the retorts, or tocause the retorts to be heated only to'the necessary point, depending, of course, upon the steam required to be. generated by the boiler. The retorts rest upon 'a suitable grate and communicate with the combustion chamber at their lower ends bymeans of restricted passages, so that the smoke and gases generated from the burning coal are led to the lower portion of the combustion chamber. Disposed adjacent the inletsto the.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 1917.

Application filed March 27, 1916. Serial N 0. 86,891.

combustion chamber are suitable air inlet pipes through which superheated air is passed to commingle and mix with the smoke and gases issuing from the retort very soon after these products have reached the combustion chamber. The combustion chamber overlies a suitable grate so that a direct air draft through the grate from the ash pit is derived, which assistsgreatly in the combustion of the smoke and gases within the combustion chamber causing the furnace to have great efiiciency.

While my invention is particularly appli 7 cable for use in connection with furnaces of the steam boiler type, I wish it to be understood that the same may be used with an or dinary heating stove, at which time the fines would, of course, be eliminated but the gases and smoke'issuing from the retort would be consumed in the combustion chamber in a manner as heretofore specified.

In the drawings: Flgure 1 1s a vertlcal sectional view of the preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 22 of t Fig. 3 is a side elevation; and,

Fig. l is a detail view of one of the air feeding devices.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numerals indicate corresponding parts, the numeral 1 designates a furnace'of the steam boiler type having a wall 2 inclosing the boiler tubes 3 within the combustion chamber a. Disposed on each side of the combustion chamber and communicating therewith through the openings 5 are the retorts 6 and 7 resting upon the grate 17 which extends entirely across the structure and having water legs 8 and water containing top portions 9. While I have shown a furnace having two of these retorts applied thereto, I wish it to be understood that my invention is not limited to the use of two of these retorts as it has been found that good results. can be obtained'with but the use of a single retort where the heating plant isrelatively small and used, for instance in private'housesi As each of the retorts is of the same specific construction, it is thought that a de-. scription of one will suflice for both. A description of the retort 7 will, therefore, be given. This retort is water jacketed to preventtheescape of heat therefrom, and is tort at ts upper end, and the air issuing separated from the boiler tubes on one side by the waterleg depending therefrom to a point near the bottom of the retort, and

there resting upon the air conveying pipe 12,

to be later described. I

At the lowerend of the retort is a curved 7 plate 18 having spaced apertures in its lower end and suitably supported on lugs 14 disposedinwardly from the wallsof the retort to support the bituminous coal within the retort in sucha manner that air is permitted to enter thereto throughthe pipe 15 to assist in the combustion of the coal; A cleaning door 20 is arranged adjacent the plate 13, and as the plate 13 prevents coal from fallingtherebeneath it is obvious that it also permits the insertion and removal of the cleaninginstruments through the door 20. A down draft 21. connectedfwith any suitable source of air'supply enters the retherefrom passes downwardly through the coal within the retort for the purpose of promoting combustion. Manifestly, these air supplying ports, may ,be controlled by suitable dampers so as toregulatefthe fire within the retort. In the construction illus trated water is introduced'into the water legsurrounding the re'tortby the pipe 22 communicating with the water in theboiler, and insuring a continuous flow into the 1 water leg. Asuitable steam outlet2l is disposed at the upper portion of the retort jacket to permit the steam generated to es- "NVhen fire is started within the retorts the coal in the lower portionof the retort is the first to be burned, the fire then eating its way upwardly through the coal within the retort, the coallast burned lying against the outerwalls ofnthe retort.

The coal within these retorts is what might be termed'coked, and the smoke and gases issuing therefrom pass through the restricted openings 5 at the; lower portion of the retort andthere intermlngle wlth the air following the direction of the arrows passing through the grateL17. The water legs 10 of the boiler rest at their lower ends upon the air supplying members 12, which directly underliethe lower ends of the water legs and somewhat restrict the passagees, tablishing OOIHITIUIHCZLUOII between the com-' bustion chamber 4 and the retort 7. These or fire clay is placed to render the joint air tight. The inside face 28 of the air conducting member is somewhat heavier than the remaining portions thereof and is traversed by a series of narrow vertically disposed recesscs 29, which recesses assist in retaining the coal when the retorts are filled while virtually increasing the depth of the coal from which smoke or gas may freely emerge without increasing the width of the retort. The air supplying members are sup ported by means of lugs 29 adapted to engage cooperating surfaces to support the members. While the specific supporting means employed is one which is highly successful, it will of course be understood that any convenient or conventional type of support may be utilized.

The alr supplying,members, there being preferably two shown, on each side of the combustion chamber are all of the same dctail construction and a description of one will therefore suliice for all. Each air sup plyingmember is provided with a division wall 30 extending horizontally through the same and also vertically disposed division walls 30 dividing each chamber and extending part way-lengthwise through each'chamher and with the horizontal division wall and providing chambers 81, 32, 33 and 34, the chamber 3Q-3lare separated from the chambers 31 and 33, it being understood that the objectof dividing each member into independent chambers is to provide a means for directing the heated air into the combustion chamber in different directions and in different quantities from the separate chambers. Air is admitted to the chambers on one side of the retort through the passage 34 communicating with the" external at mosphere while the air is admittedto the chambers on the other side of the retort by the pipes 35 shown as broken away in Fig. 2.

A The air so introduced is caused to travel The air in this manner takes a circuitous I course, and cannot be delivered to the dis charging chambers until it is in a highly heated condition. Thedischarging chamber 32, being fedwith air in the manner above describechis provided in its face: with a series of spaced alternately arranged relatively smallducts e1, permitting only a very than the chamber 32, but the 'air passing therethrough ,is well heated and the dis chargesissuing therefrom supply a film of air that mixes. along side the gases being consumed and destroys any slight spray of smoke or other gases which mayfor some unaccountable reason be free within the combustion chamber, and not mixed with the air to such an extent as to cause their complete combustion. Thesmoke and gases thus entering the combustion chamber, which is common to botlrof the retorts, is subjected to three diiferent sources ,of air supply, one being i the updraft passing through the grate, While the other air sup-. plies issue in a horizontal direction from the chamber-s31 and 32. The air issuing from the chambers ishighly heated due to the circuitous course which it is forced. to travel prior toqits discharge and when the same enters the combustion chamber it is therefore heated to such a degree as to accomplish the result sought. In order that the gases and smoke may be completely consumed before they inany way come in con-;

tact'with the water tubes of the boiler suitably disposed bafile plates 43 adapted to be placed in a somewhat staggeredrelation are provided and the baiiie plates are positioned directly under the boiler and supported by lugs45. or in any. other suitable manner. These baffle plates are utilized in view of the fact that it has been foundthat as soon as the smoke and gases come in contact with the boiler they are so cooled as to render their combustion practically imp0ssible, even if they are mixed with the incoming heated air in suitable quantities.

Directly underlying the grate 17 are the ash pits 4-6, which pits are preferably separated by the division Wall 47, in such a manner that the retorts and the combustion chamber are provided withv independent ash pits. In cleaning the furnace it is only necessary to insert a suitable instrument within the door openings 20 in the retorts, which permits the burned coal on thegrate to be shaken'or forced into the different ash pits if desired.

,Having thus described the invention, the operation may be briefly stated as follows: Coal is introduced into the retorts 6 and 7 and a suitable fire is then started. The retorts are preferably water-jacketed for a purpose which will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and leading to the retorts are the air supplying pipes or air drafts15 and 21, which assist in promoting combustionof the fuel within the retorts, While air is also introduced into the retorts through the openings in the grate. During theburning of the coal the smoke and gases issuing therefrom pass through the re stricted openings 5 into the combustion chamber at, that is common to all the retorts and directly upon their entrance into the combustion chamber the smoke and gases are subjected to the action of the air entering the apertures in the grate, and the highly heated air issuing from the air sup? plying chambers 31 and 32, whereby the products entering the combustion chamber from the retorts are completely consumed and always ignited, which greatly increases the efficiency of the, furnace. Of course, the supply ofair to the combustion chamber and the supply of air to the retorts may be regulated at any time to meet with the demand placed upon the furnace.

lVhile I have illustrated the device as used in connection with a steam boiler furnace, the same is applicable to small heating plants of any type without departing from the invention. I

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

, 1. A furnace of the character described having a combustion chamber, a retort adjacent thereto adapted to receive a relatively large supply of fuel during the burning thereof and having a communication with the combustion chamber for the passage of the gases generated from the fuel in the retort, an air supplying means conveying air to the combustion chamber to mix with the gases led thereto, said air supplying means consisting of a conduit disposed below the inner wall of the retort and having a plurality of independent air chambers therein, each chamber being provided with spaced discharge openings facing the combustion chamber, one air feeding chamber being disposed above the other, for the purpose described.

A furnace of the character described comprising a combustion chamber, a retort for burning fuel adjacent thereto and in communication with the combustion chamber an air supplying conduit of substan- I 'tially rectangular formation directly underas described.

lying the inner Wallof the retort and having a plurality of division Walls therein dividing the chamber into independent air passages, each passage having) discharge openings facing the combustion chamber, means for introduclng air to'each of said passages, substantially as described.

'3. A furnace of the character described, comprising a combustion chamberfa retort on each side of said chamber, for burning fuel'and having communications With the combustion chamberto permit the gases generated in the retorts to enter the combustion chamber, air supplying conduits disposed beneath the inner Walls of each retort having aplurality of division Walls therein dividing each conduit into independent air chambers, said chambers having spaced air feeding openings thereinfacing the combustign cha nloer for permitting the escape of air to the combustion chamberto mix With the gases led thereto, substantially 4. A furnace of the character described comprising a combustion chamber, a retort on each side of said chamber for burning fuel and having communications with; the combustion chamber to permit the gases generated in the retorts to enter the combustion chamber, air supplying conduits disposed vbeneath the inner Walls of each retort having a plurality of division Walls therein dividing each conduit into independent air chambers, said chambers having spaced air feeding openings, therein facing the combustion chamber forpermitting the escape of Copies of this patent may be obtained for comprising a member having independent air chambers therein disposed at difierent heights, each of said chambers being provided with spaced discharge openings of difierent dimensions for feeding the air to the combustion chamber, for the purpose described.

6. A furnace of the character described having a combustion chamber, a retortadjacent thereto adapted to receive fuel during the burning thereof and having a com-' munication-wvith the combustion chamber, independent air supplying passages for conveying air'to the combustion chamber to mix with the gases led thereto, said supplying'passages having discharge nozzles of different dimensions facing the combustion chamber and discharging directly into the combustion chamber, and one of the cham bersbeing arranged above the other, for the purpose described.

7. A furnace of the character described comprising a combustion chamber, a retort communicating therewith and adapted to receive a suitable supply of fuel,'independent airfeeding members each having a series of I nozzles therein facing the combustion chamber for discharging air thereto to mix with the gases entering thechamber from the retort, the nozzles of each series being of different dimensions and disposed one above another, for the purpose described.

8. A furnace of the character described having a combustion chamber, a fuel receiving retort adjacent thereto and in communi cation With the chamber, a Water jacket surrounding said retort and having a downwardly extending Water leg, an air supply conduit directly underlying the Water leg for feeding air to said chamber, said conduit having a plurality of recesses in its inner face for retaining the fuel in the retort, and means for feeding air to said conduit. I

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

c GEORGE C. KIDDER.

Witnesses: f

W. E. WIGHT, D. F. GnnNsnY.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents; WashingtomDrG, 

